Hi Trevor, That's a great idea & makes each day a bit more interesting to be able to read such stories. Keep up the good work Dave in Ballarat At 10:06 AM 13/10/2005, trevor wrote: >| Hello List, >| A big thank you to Trevor for the Report he has listed for us all. >| >| Dave in Ballarat > > >Thanks for that, Dave. > >I have also just finished transcribing the 'Dunolly and Betbetshire Express' >report of the Royal Commission's evidence-taking in Dunolly. You will >recall that the Commission sat in Tarnagulla in the morning, then caught the >1 o'clock train to Dunolly to hear evidence there. > >The 'Express' report is far superior, in terms of journalistic standards, to >the Tanagulla 'Courier' account of the Tarnagulla hearing. It is also very >much longer. (About eight A4 pages.) For that reason I am rather dubious >about flooding the list with it. To make it more digestible, I would send >it in instalments over the next 4 or 5 days. Let me have your opinion if >you think this is advisable and appropriate. > >The 'Express' report is quite different from the 'Courier' account, not just >in terms of its standard of writing and length. There is much less emphasis >on things like shepherding, the role of the mining and prospecting boards, >and similar 'nitty gritty' matters which occupied the Tarnagulla paper, >although there *is* some of that. > >The main difference is the lengthy and(to me, anyhow), fascinating evidence >about the discovery of the Queen's Birthday mine, and remarks about other >significant mines such as the North Birthday. This evidence comes from the >likes of Mr T. Barnett, Mr W.H. Hansford, Manager of the Queen's Birthday >mine, Mr R. Ritchie, Mr John Betheras, mine manager of the Queen's Birthday. >There is detailed description of the actual workings of the stampers, how >mercury (quicksilver) is used on copper plates in the stampers, what its >effects are and much more. Various reefs and the work done on them are >described and commented upon. (I now understand what a 'winze' is!) > >Over all, I find the 'Express' report to be a very readable and detailed >contribution to the understanding of one aspect of the history of Dunolly >and the motivations of many of our forebears who engaged in mining there. > >Are you all happy with the idea of instalments over the next few days? > > >Trevor > > >==== AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS Mailing List ==== >To unsubscribe from this mailing list send the word 'unsubscribe' in >the body of a message to AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-L-request@rootsweb.com